1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process for producing a di(aryloxy)alkane commercially and advantageously.
2. Description of the Related Art
Di(aryloxy)alkanes have various application fields such as sensitizers for heat-sensitive recording materials, heat-fusibilizing agents, monomer raw materials for synthetic high-molecular weight compounds, particularly polyester resins, additives such fire retardants, etc., and various production processes have been proposed, but no fully satisfactory processes have yet been found.
For example, according to a process (Bulletin of Industrial Chemistry, vol. 66, pp 979-981), ethylene dichloride and phenol and NaOH both of 10 mols per mol of the chloride are reacted in an aqueous medium under reflux to obtain diphenoxyethane with a yield of 72% based on ethylene chloride, but in order to recover a large excess of phenol, considerable agents, equipments, energy, labor, etc. are required.
Further, according to a process of reacting a sulfonic acid ester of an aryloxyalkanol with an aromatic alcohol (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Sho 61-122238/1986), steps of converting a phenol into an aryloxyalkanol, followed by converting it into a sulfonic acid ester are required; hence this process cannot be regarded as a good countermeasure in the production of a di(aryloxy)alkane of symmetric type.
The present inventors have further made extensive research on use of various solvents or mixtures of solvents with water as a reaction medium or various acid-seizing agents, additives, etc., but any of these substances have yielded no commercially satisfactory results.